'The Mailman' Delivers In Fredericton

Hall of Fame horseman and all around good guy Ron Waples has never been known to turn down a 'live' catch-drive, and on Thursday evening owner/trainer Percy Jones called his bluff

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Jones entered pacer Perfect Approach in Fredericton Raceway’s feature race on Thursday evening and called on the man known in racing circles by nicknames such as 'Bubbles,' 'the Little Man' and 'God' to handle the lines.

Waples accepted the assignment, and he had no problem delivering the package. Add 'the Mailman' to his long list of nicknames.

The man in blue and gold worked out a second over trip for the eight-year-old son of Perfect Art, and when Waples said 'go' on the way to the three-quarter pole the pacer responded with an explosive brush. Perfect Approach smoked home in :28.2 to win by more than eight lengths.

Sent off as the odds-on favourite, Perfect Approach won for the 24th time in his career. As for Waples, the win was the 6,906th of his storied career.

Sources from Fredericton report that Waples received a phone call shortly after the win. It was his cousin, the legendary Keith Waples. The call went something like this:

Ron – Hello.
Keith – Ronnie, it’s Keith.
Ron – Hey, what’s going on?
Keith – Not much.
Ron – Did you call to congratulate me on my win in Fredericton?
Keith – No, I wanted to know what the hell you were doing winning by eight lengths when you could have won by a length! Didn’t I teach you anything?

To view Thursday’s results, click here.